A massive outage at Amazon Web Services disrupted major websites and apps today in a show of how one company's online infrastructure has become essential for many modern businesses to function.
Where things stand: Amazon said it was fixing the problem but some disruptions were still ongoing as of Monday evening.
How it happened: An error in a software update was the root cause.
The context: Tech experts tell NPR the incident highlights just how vulnerable companies are to these kinds of outages.
Read on ... to learn more about Amazon's place in internet infrastructure.
A massive outage at Amazon Web Services disrupted major websites and apps on Monday, in a show of how one company's online infrastructure has become essential for many modern businesses to function.
Amazon said it was fixing the problem but some disruptions were still ongoing as of late Monday afternoon.
Tech experts tell NPR the incident highlights just how vulnerable companies are to these kinds of outages.
Here's what to know about what happened and why a single outage could be so damaging.
The outage started early Monday
Amazon reported "increased error rates and latencies" starting around 3 a.m. Eastern that involved its facility in Northern Virginia.
Users reported trouble with popular websites and apps including Duolingo and the online games Roblox and Fortnite. Financial service companies like Coinbase, Robinhood and Venmo also reported disruptions, as did the companies that operate the chatbots Perplexity and ChatGPT. Amazon said its main website was affected. United Airlines, Canva, Reddit and Flickr also acknowledged problems with their websites. The Associated Press, NPR and The New York Times' games also said they had issues.
Amazon said late Monday that it was making "progress" to restoring full functionality.
How Amazon's cloud computing powers much of the internet
Amazon's cloud computing service, AWS, is like an invisible scaffolding that helps much of the internet function.
AWS lets companies store and manage data online using its database service DynamoDB, which was the service affected by the outage.
"In other words, they rent out their cloud computing resources to others so they can serve their own customers," says Chang Lou,an assistant professor at the University of Virginia who specializes in cloud computing.
An early-morning software update to DynamoDB, however, contained an error, which took down the service in Northern Virginia. The error within that update then caused a chain reaction of service failures and disruptions.
Amazon says it has invested more than $50 billion in data centers in the state, which is home to the largest cluster of data centers in the U.S.
Amazon's importance in cloud computing is a mixed bag for customers
According to Synergy Research Group, AWS holds about 30% of the worldwide cloud computing market. Other big players are Microsoft and Google.
Betsy Cooper, a cybersecurity expert and the director of the Aspen Institute's Policy Academy, says there are pros and cons to companies using Amazon or another big provider for cloud computing. They offer strong cybersecurity protections and convenience.
"We all have an incentive to use the big companies because they're so ubiquitous, and it's easier for us to access all of our data in one place."
But, she says, there's a downside.
"That's great until something goes wrong, and then you really see just how dependent you are on a handful of those companies."
Editor's note:Amazon is a financial supporter of NPR and it pays to distribute some of NPR's content. Microsoft and Google are also NPR financial supporters.
Fiona Ng
is LAist's deputy managing editor and leads a team of reporters who explore food, culture, history, events and more.
Updated August 8, 2026 7:03 PM
Published August 8, 2026 5:14 PM
The Walnut Fire burning in Burbank.
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Screengrab from AlertCalifornia video feed.
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Topline:
A brush fire burning in Wildwood Canyon above Burbank has prompted evacuation orders for DeBell Restaurant and Golf Course and Stough Canyon Nature Center, according to the city of Burbank.
What we know so far: The Walnut Fire broke out Saturday afternoon near the intersection East Harvard Road and Wildwood Canyon Road.
Read on ... for more on evacuations and weather conditions.
This is a developing story and will be updated. For the most up-to-date information about the fire you can check:
Evacuation orders for DeBell Restaurant and Golf Course and Stough Canyon Nature Center remain in place for a fire burning in Wildwood Canyon above Burbank.
Evacuation warnings for Churches Ct. and Country Club Drive were lifted at 6:20 p.m.
As of 5:55 p.m., the fire had burned 40 acres and 70% contained, according to Burbank.
The Walnut Fire broke out Saturday afternoon near the intersection East Harvard Road and Wildwood Canyon Road.
Hiking trails around the area are closed. The Starlight Bowl concert scheduled for tonight has been canceled.
Listen to our Big Burn podcast
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Jacob Margolis, LAist's science reporter, examines the new normal of big fires in California.
The unemployment rate dipped to 4.1%, but only because more than 260,000 people dropped out of the workforce.
It was the second month in a row that the monthly jobs tally came in weaker than forecasters had expected.
"We are increasingly hearing from workers that they are anxious about their job security and they are frustrated by the fact that they are stuck in roles that are not necessarily good for them," said Daniel Zhao, chief economist at the job search website Glassdoor. "And that's on top of workers who are not in a job right now and feel frozen out of the job market."
Glassdoor's worker confidence index slumped in July to a record low.
The Fed's job gets harder
Restaurants and retailers cut thousands of jobs last month, and local government also saw large job losses. Healthcare continued to add workers, but at a more modest pace than earlier in the year.
The softening job market may complicate the Federal Reserve's job, since it's also battling stubborn inflation. The Fed may be more cautious about raising interest rates at a time when the labor market appears less stable.
For people who are working, average wages have risen 3.2% in the last 12 months. That's likely not enough to keep pace with inflation, however, so workers' paychecks don't stretch as far as they used to.
"Part of the reason that workers are feeling bad about today's job market," Zhao says, is that "a lot of those wage gains have been eaten up by rising energy prices."
Copyright 2026 NPR
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Josie Huang
is a reporter and Weekend Edition host who spotlights the people and places at the heart of our region.
Published August 8, 2026 5:00 AM
Phoebe Bridgers plays with her band Boygenius during the 2023 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.
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Frazer Harrison
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Getty Images North America
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Topline:
Phoebe Bridgers is giving Southern California fans an unusual way to hear her new album Lost Weekend with a listening session inside the Orange Coast College planetarium in Costa Mesa.
Why now: Lost Weekend, Bridgers’ first studio album in six years, is out Friday, with listening sessions taking place at dozens of planetariums around the world next week.
The backstory: Orange Coast College already has a tradition of pairing music with visuals through popular laser shows featuring the music of everyone from Pink Floyd to Taylor Swift. But the Bridgers event is by far the most high-profile, pairing the album with both a laser show by Laser Fantasy and a full-dome presentation with imagery by taken by astrophotographer Babak Tafreshi.
Next week Phoebe Bridgers fans in Southern California will get an otherworldly way to enjoy her new album ahead of its official release Friday.
And a Costa Mesa institution will enjoy the chance to introduce indie music lovers to what it does beyond astronomy lectures and field trips.
The Orange Coast College Planetarium is one of dozens of planetariums around the world – and the only in Southern California – hosting listening sessions next week for Lost Weekend, one of the year’s most anticipated indie releases and Bridgers’ first solo studio album in six years.
The Pasadena native is not expected at any of the planetarium shows. But that doesn’t matter to her fan base.
Phoebe Bridger fans can listen to her album in the planetarium's 125-seat dome theater.
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Courtesy Orange Coast College Planetarium
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Twelve shows in the 125-seat theater sold out within four hours of going on sale Thursday, according to the planetarium. So staff added 16 more, bringing the total to 28 screenings over four days, Aug. 10 through 13. (At last check, tickets for showings earlier in the day were still available.)
“We have never had an event that was this anticipated,” Rhiannon Graffio, lead speaker and educator at the planetarium.
Listening to Lost Weekend...at a planetarium
When: Aug. 10–13. Shows are scheduled throughout the afternoon and evening, with both fulldome and laser show experiences.
Where: Orange Coast College Planetarium, 2701 Fairview Road, Costa Mesa.
Tickets: $20. Tickets are available through Orange Coast College’s ticketing site.
Phone-free: Phones must be placed in locking Yondr pouches during the listening sessions. Smartwatches, cameras, Meta glasses and other recording
There’s two ways to experience the record from start to finish, which is a little over 50 minutes long.
One is a full-dome show featuring images taken by renowned astrophotographer Babak Tafreshi.
“It's gorgeous,” Graffio said. “There's some that are of the night sky, where you can see the paths of the stars as the Earth rotates, or auroras or lightning.”
The other option is a laser show created by Laser Fantasy, with scenes and storylines moving in time with the music.
Graffio said the planetarium had been approached by Bridgers’ label Dead Oceans to host the shows, which are being presented in partnership with Spotify.
Rhiannon Graffio, a lead speaker at the Orange Coast College Planetarium, has been working with Phoebe Bridgers' label on next week's listening sessions.
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Courtesy Rhiannon Graffio
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The events are strictly phone-free. To prevent album leaks, attendees will have to put their phones in pouches provided by Yondr, a company that works concerts and other events. Smartwatches, and Meta glasses also aren’t allowed.
The Lost Weekend events are the most high-profile but certainly not the planetarium’s first experiment with mixing music and visuals.
The theater regularly hosts laser shows set to music, cycling through different artists like Taylor Swift and Beyoncé each month while keeping some crowd favorites like Pink Floyd in rotation. Graffio said in the last year KPop Demon Hunters laser shows have been especially popular.
Accommodating the Lost Weekend shows has meant bringing extra staff to handle the weekday crowds at the community planetarium.
But Graffio said there's a big upside to introducing music fans to a place they may never have thought to visit.
“It’s a wonderful experience,” she said. “And most of the shows that we do are also educational in some sense. As cool as the visuals are, they are about the universe and what we know about it.”
And for those who can't make it to the planetarium shows, there's a more traditional route to marking Bridgers' new album. A dozen record stores around Southern California are hosting listening sessions at midnight Friday.
Every Sunday night, a semi-secret event at the tony Los Angeles Athletic Club lets anyone experience a near-private concert from jazz legends — for just $10.
Why it matters: The revolving cast draws from a repertory group of about 15 artists, including: saxophonist Rickey Woodard, who played for Ray Charles, Ella Fitzgerald and more; trumpeter Nolan Shaheed, who backed Duke Ellington, Count Basie, and Stevie Wonder.
Read on ... to find the details of this hidden gem ...
It seems that jazz is everywhere in Los Angeles. Blue Note opened a club last year, venues like Sam First, Catalina’s, Vibrato and the Baked Potato draw large crowds, and hotels and bars are adding jazz to their schedules.
But every week, a semi-secret event at the tony Los Angeles Athletic Club lets anyone experience a near-private concert from legends such as Rickey Woodard, who played saxophone for Ray Charles, Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughn and others; and Nolan Shaheed, trumpeter for Duke Ellington, Marvin Gaye and more.
That’s before you get to the evening’s singer, who might be 96-year-old pianist Betty Bryant, former Raelette Val Monroe or singer and Grammy-winning songwriter John Proulx.
Until recently, the Sunday night Jazz Salon was free. Now it charges a nominal $10 per person, which is still an outrageous bargain, so be sure to add something to the tip jar on the piano, and maybe try one of the cocktails or the steak frites.
Inside the club
Walking into the club earlier, you see black-and-white photos of all types of healthy pursuits on the walls, as well as trophies and mementos of the club’s nearly century-and-a-half history. Plush sofas, high ceilings and book-filled shelves are the order of the day, and alongside members in gym gear or lugging laptops, you go up in one of the elevators to the third floor, where the Jazz Salon takes place.
Dave Ross, bassist and founder of the Jazz Salon.
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James Bartlett
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LAist
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The bassist who built it
Earlier in the day, Dave Ross, 76, was setting up the amps, drum kit, mixer and mic stands. He also administers the website, acts as MC and plays double bass as part of the ensemble. He began the venture over a decade ago, when he persuaded the LAAC, of which he had long been a member, to host concerts in their redecorated restaurant and bar.
Ross draws from a repertory group of about 15 artists, and the concert takes place opposite the bar in a wood-paneled room of just a few dozen leather chairs and tables. This small scale makes the night intimate and unique.
Sunday Night Jazz Salon
Location: Invention (3rd Floor), The Los Angeles Athletic Club, 646 S Olive St., Downtown Los Angeles
Time: Sundays, 6:00 PM – 8:30 PM (with a brief intermission) Cost: $10 cover charge at the door Make reservations and check out the weekly artist schedule
“No gig is ever the same,” says Ross. “We don’t rehearse, and every time we play a song, we're never trying to play it the same way we played it before.”
That makes the night fun, too. Since you’re right near the musicians, you can hear their laughter and banter, as well as their impressive solos. Ross, stage left, stays out of the limelight — which is how he prefers it — and often says he's just happy to be there playing.
“You're there to keep the beat, the pulse of the music,” he says. “And then, secondarily, the notes that you play help the other musicians understand what the chord, what the harmony is. I'm just doing it for the pleasure of playing the music.”
The Jazz Salon is a $10 Sunday night concert at the Los Angeles Athletic Club.
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James Bartlett
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LAist
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Why $10 barely covers it
Once a month, Ross and some of his stable join a touring artist — recently five-time Grammy-nominee Karrin Allyson — in the club’s 250-seat ballroom for a more formal ticketed event, but there have been just two complete sellouts of them this year: tributes to Bill Evans and Dave Brubeck/Paul Desmond.
Donations and the tip jar on Sunday evenings sometimes haven’t been enough to break even, either, which led to Ross reluctantly introducing the $10 charge. No matter what, he is determined the Jazz Salon will keep going.
“When I was younger, there was a receptionist I knew who was a nun. She said: “‘You know what your problem is? You’re too optimistic!’”
